The present invention relates to a teaching apparatus for a robot and particularly to an apparatus simplified in the teaching of operation of a robot by the use of a display on a screen with the robot hand taken as the reference point.
As the methods for teaching a robot, those described in Japanese Patent Laid-open Nos. 59-41012 and 59-60507, etc. have so far been known. And, in a system for teaching a robot by means of graphics, such a method is employed that a view point for a display on the screen is determined by numerical input for a direction vector for the view point, and the view point is thereby changed. An example thereof is shown in a paper entitled, "Robot Task Planning: Programming Using Interactive Computer Graphics", Proceedings of the 13th International Symposium on Industrial Robots and Robots 7, Apr. 17-21, 1983, at pages 7-122-7-135.
However, if it is attempted to teach a robot a part inserting operation, for example, by changing the view point according to such a method, it is not an easy task because of the following two reasons:
(1) Numerical information about the direction vector of the view point wherefrom the part inserting work is easily viewed must always be provided.
(2) After the view point for the display has been changed so that the object for the insertion may be easily viewed, the robot is moved so as to come in alignment with the object and then the inserting operation is taught to the robot. Thus, two steps of operation must be performed.